[Comparison between transumbilical laparoendoscopic single-site surgery with"chopstick technique"and conventional...

To compare perioperative outcomes between transumbilical laparoendoscopic single-site surgery (TU-LESS) and conventional multi-port laparoscopic surgery (MLS) in patients with endometrial cancer (EC), and evaluate the safety, feasibility, and efficacy of the "Chopstick Technique" TU-LESS. The single-center retrospective study included 535 patients who underwent surgical treatment between August 2018 and August 2021. Patients treated with the "Chopstick Technique" TU-LESS were assigned to the TU-LESS group, and those treated with MLS were assigned to the MLS group. After propensity score matching, 39 patients in the TU-LESS group and 76 patients in the MLS group were included. The age of the included patients was (50.8±7.8) years, and there were no significant differences between the TU-LESS and MLS groups in terms of age, body mass index, obstetric history, history of abdominal and pelvic surgery, International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) 2014 staging, or histological grade (all P>0.05). The TU-LESS group had a longer operative time compared to the MLS group [(175.2±57.1) vs (152.9±56.4) min, P=0.048], but had lower postoperative visual analog scale pain scores [1 (1, 2) vs 2 (2, 3) scores, P<0.001] and higher postoperative incision satisfaction scores [(5.7±0.5) vs (5.2±0.7) scores, P=0.001]. There were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of intraoperative blood loss, number of pelvic and paraaortic lymph nodes removed, incidence of perioperative complications, or length of postoperative hospital stay (all P>0.05). Compared to traditional laparoscopic techniques, the "chopstick technique" TU-LESS had advantages, such as less postoperative pain and higher patient satisfaction with the incision, with a similar efficacy to MLS.